Lightsey named 2009 Sunbelt Expo Farmer of the Year

(Moultrie, Ga.) – Cary Lightsey, a Lake Wales man, has been named the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Ag Expo’s 2009 Farmer of the Year. The award recognizes Lightsey’s outstanding accomplishments in producing food and fiber, as well as his superior management of natural resources.
 
    “On behalf of Florida Farm Bureau, I congratulate the Lightsey family,” said John Hoblick, Florida Farm Bureau President. “They are deserving of this tremendous honor.”
 
    The announcement of the award was made on Oct. 20 at the Sunbelt Ag Expo farm show in Moultrie, Ga.
 
    Lightsey was chosen from a field of 10 state farmers of the year from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
 
    Lightsey and his brother Layne raise 6,580 head of commercial cattle, 120 head of purebred Charolais, 220 head of Angus and 285 herd bulls.  Lightsey Cattle Co. preconditions 2,250 yearlings annual, sells 1,080 head through Internet and local livestock auctions, retains 780 heifers for replacements and retains ownership on 1,710 head per year fed out in Texas feedlots. Lightsey runs 36,200 acres, including 17,800 rented acres and 18,400 acres of owned land. Crops include 420 acres of irrigated citrus, 300 acres of bahiagrass sod, 450 acres of bahia for seed and 2,800 acres of forage.
 
    They also grow citrus and operate a hunting camp. Their management of the property has included preserving substantial acreage for wildlife habitat. The land now supports 28 endangered species, including gopher tortoises. Two decades ago the Lightseys routed water runoff from their citrus groves to a planted marshland. The water that eventually drains from the marsh into the headwaters of the Everglades is the cleanest water on the property. Both state agencies and water management districts have since adopted this system for several publicly owned lands in central Florida.
 
    The family has been recognized many times for its stewardship. The Lightseys have received the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture’s Ag-Environmental Leadership Award, the Florida Cattlemen’s Association’s Environmental Stewardship Award and a National Environmental Stewardship Award from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, among a long list of additional honors.
 
    Cary Lightsey, and his wife, Marcia, have served as volunteer leaders in their agricultural industries and in their local community for more than three decades. Examples of Cary’s volunteer work include service as an elder at Lake Wales Lutheran Church, chair of the Peace Creek Drainage Board and a member of the UF/IFAS Ona-Range Cattle Research and Education Center’s advisory board. Marcia is a member of the Lake Wales Lutheran Missionary League and volunteers to teach in the Florida Agriculture in the Classroom program. They operate their ranch along with their children, Lori, Clinton and Leigh Ann.
 
    As Southeastern Farmer of the Year, Lightsey takes home $15,000 from Swisher, the use of a Massey Ferguson tractor for a year from Massey Ferguson North America, a custom made Canvasback gun safe from Misty Morn Safe Co., a second $500 gift certificate from the Southern States cooperative and, from Williamson-Dickie another jacket, a $500 gift certificate and $500.
 
    Swisher International, through its Swisher Sweets cigar brand, has contributed some $764,000 in cash awards and other honors to southeastern farmers since the award was initiated in 1990.